Marketing is one of those industries where we are all constantly trying to do more, learn more, and come up with the buzz-building strategies that have never been done before.
Like it or not, it's just our nature not to settle or get too comfortable. Nor is it the nature of C-suite or our clients to expect anything less than a constantly improving ROI.
Whether we're doing a first-rate job building a brand and selling a product or not – we know we could do it better. We can be more efficient, more creative. And if we don't take action, our competitors might launch a steal half of our customers with dazzling marketing campaign on Instagram or win over our audience with their profound blog posts.
If you're like me, you wouldn't have it any other way. After all, it's pressure that makes diamonds.
So – what will you be doing this year to refine your marketing?
A recent look at the agendas of UK and US marketers found that the most pressing issue for this year and next is data analysis. A full 72% said that data is the skill that their organizations must hone in order to remain competitive in the future. For large companies, data was ranked even higher, at 80%.
The need for numbers trumps all other areas of digital marketing today. It appears as a profession; we're finally finding our stride with search engine optimization. Only 13% believe their greatest need is to prioritize SEO. 31% said web development, 23%, graphic design. Social media is continues to weigh on many marketing minds, with 65% saying social is where their organizations need to direct the most energy.
Why data?Solid data analysis is essential because it informs our decisions. Without measuring our past and current efforts, we really are just shooting in the dark when it comes to creating the next campaign. This is a problem. It's not just validation we are looking for from high-quality data analysis, but direction.
The belief is that, the more quality data, the greater clarity you will get. Think of it as a spectrum: Zero analysis would leave you in pitch black, basic web stats would give you a few stars and some moonlight. A moderate marketing analysis routine, with a look at click-through-rates, conversion rates, and churn will let you clearly see a few feet ahead, but let's face it, there's still a lot of fog. The crème de la crème is the expert analysis of Big Data. You get full visibility, maybe even a little sun glare, with a 360-degree view of the past, what's going on around you, and where you are headed.
This is an elegant theory. The more you know, the more effective your marketing, right?
source: Business2community.com
This gives a huge advantage to companies that can afford Big Data and outside expertise. The vast majority of marketing leaders agree – 91% believe that the successful brands are using customer data to drive smart business decisions.
Fortune 500 companies, such as American Express, which claims to be able to identify 24% of accounts that will close within four months, and T-Mobile, which credits big data from social media and account transactions to have cut their "customer defections in half in a single quarter," are doing just that. They are finding effective ways to take their services and their marketing to the next level with sophisticated insights into customer behavior.
Where does that leave the CMOs of small to mid-sized businesses, digital marketing agencies with limited budgets, and all the entrepreneurs and small business owners who are doing some or all of their branding themselves?
In the dark?
Is good data out of reach?Marketing is only going to get more data-centric, so improving your data analysis is a indisputably a good idea.
However, you need to work with your present budget, skill set, and manpower, and you must take a step up from where you are now. (Sorry, you can't leap across a canyon and wake up tomorrow with the Big Data capabilities of Apple or Aetna.)
Does that mean your marketing team is forever confined to monthly reports on CTR, traffic volume, and ROI? These metrics are excellent for deciphering whether your content marketing is making a remarkable impact – or a dent – in customer acquisition and retention, and for demonstrating to clients the worth of your work. But the kind of data that lets Dunkin' Donuts offer individualized rewards to customers through its rewards program, or that helps Nationwide know when its clients are going to have a baby – that's something bigger.
Anthony Botibol, marketing director for BlueVenn, calls it a waiting game, suggesting that marketers already have too much on their plates right now and need to wait for the innovations that will make dynamic, multi-dimensional data processing within our reach. "It's up to our industry to deliver the necessary technology to radically simplify the task," he says. "Until marketers are provided with the tools and technology, they will never unlock the true potential of their customers' data."
How to evolve your data analysis this yearWhile you may not have a big, shiny data machine in your back room chugging away numbers and delivering magnificent insights to help drive better business decisions, you may be better off than you think. Too much data comes with its own problems – just like our clear sunny day analogy. It doesn't necessarily lead you in the right direction. When you can see from horizon to horizon, you are left with infinite paths to choose from.
Pam Moy, vice president of marketing analytics, research, and administration for Allstate, says, "The biggest challenge of data-driven marketing is sifting through the data and determining what is valuable and relevant information." The sheer volume of data becomes an obstacle, not an advantage.
If you don't yet have the capability to take full advantage of Big Data—nor the ability to make sense of it—what is the practical, action-oriented solution in reach today?
Clarity and focus. Let the fog roll in, if that's where you are on your evolution to data-centric marketing; just please use a flashlight while you're waiting for the sun to come out.
What matters to your brand? Identify this, then improve your data analysis where you can, using what's available now.
Brad Marg, chief operating office for Clutch, hones in on identifying the company's best customers and then reaching out to them. How? By using consumer management software to synthesize the data that's coming from different channels.
Small business branding expert Drew Stevens says that researching what customers are saying on social media is one of the best ways to learn what customers want. No IT expert or data analyst degree required.
Brian Carter, of the boutique marketing agency the Brian Carter Group, claims that the tried-and-true digital marketing conversion rate metrics – both sales and conversions at each buyer stage down the sales funnel – are the magic numbers that will drive smart marketing decisions.
With a clear light on what matters, your next step is to grow your data capabilities this year by utilizing the technology resources that are available to you. Are you using a software platform that unifies all your data sources? There already are plenty of solutions that are accessible to small businesses:
And third, accept that figuring out how to get more out of your data is going to be a process. You can't sidetrack the core of your marketing efforts to become an expert data analyst. What you can do over the next year or two is grow. Learn more, utilize your resources, apply what you learn to your strategies, see what works – and then, you get to analyze the data.
For more on digital transformation in marketing and advertising, see Defining Advertising Success In The Digital World.
CommentsSource: What's Your Marketing Priority In 2017: Data, Social, Or SEO?
No comments:
Post a Comment